


The Education of Ray Palmer

by Pplwkp



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 01:02:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14557464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pplwkp/pseuds/Pplwkp
Summary: Ray's identity crisis at the beginning of Season 2 bears fruit a little later than expected, and he realizes he's bi. He needs someone to show him the ropes, and Mick surprisingly offers, to the dismay of the rest of the team. Meanwhile, Mick's self-destructive behavior reaches new heights.





	The Education of Ray Palmer

They had just gotten back from another mission, this time the mission had been more or less a successful one.

 

Ray had been more quiet than normal. So Sara was actually relived Ray was the first one to approach her, so she didn’t have to go to him.

 

“Oh Captain my captain, do you have a moment?” Ray asked both jokingly but also completely respectfully, as usual.

 

“Sure Ray. What’s up? I noticed you haven’t been your usual chatty self.”

 

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about something for a while now, and I could really use your expertise.”

 

“My expertise is killing or subduing people. What exactly do you want to consult me on, Ray?” Sara was surprised. Ray wasn’t the vindictive type, by far. He had even made friends with the rat that had tried to kill him in his miniaturized state. And given him to Mick as a Christmas present.

 

Ray clearly looked like he had hoped Sara would figure out what he wanted without him telling her.

 

“I meant your other expertise”, Ray pointed out quietly, looking a bit pale.

 

“Ray, what is wrong? You look like you’re...” _Ashamed_ , she finished in her head. She figured it was best she didn’t say that. “--unwell.”

 

“No no, I’m completely fine. Gideon has run a full health check up on me, and I’m right as rain.” Ray was suddenly back to his chippery old self and seemed prepared to go back to avoiding the issue, evidenced by the fact that he took the opportunity to prattle on about his health. “I haven’t even had a cold in quite a while, so I’m perfectly healthy and --”

 

“Then what’s the problem?” Sara cut him off. She was starting to worry. Maybe Ray had accidentally caused a time aberration. That would explain why he seemed so guilty and shifty.

 

Ray’s smile faded. “You remember back when my suit got destroyed and I had a teensy weensy identity crisis?”

 

“Yes. You used the cold gun a while but now you have your suit back and it works, right?”

 

“Yes, my suit is fully operational. That’s not the problem.” Ray looked at Sara for a moment. “Actually, I think this was not the best idea. I should leave you. I’m fine. Don’t worry about it. It has nothing to do with the team or the mission. I’m just going to go.” He turned to leave, but Sara called after him. “Ray, I’m really starting to worry. Out with it.”

 

Ray turned around. He clearly didn’t know what to do with his hands, so he kept his hands together but kept twisting them and moving the around.

 

“During the small identity crisis, I started to feel…I think I might...I mean not exclusively, but it’s just something I should figure out, you know? Like you have!”

 

“Ray, use more words.”

 

“I think I might like men.” Ray looked terrified.

 

Sara looked at him. “Is that it?”

 

“Is that what?”

 

“Okay, sorry, I thought you were going to a whole other direction with your problem.” Sara had either thought Ray had caused a huge time aberration, or accidentally blabbed their secrets to the enemy. A small change in sexual orientation was not what she expected considering his distraught state. Then again, it was more difficult for some people. Now that she knew the proportion of the problem, Sara could relax. She sat on the edge of her table.

 

“Come sit with me”, she beckoned him and he dutifully sat next to her. “So do you think you just like men or both men and women?”

 

“I don’t know. I’m not sure if either or both or one. Probably both. I always liked women, I didn’t really think about men, then again I wasn’t exactly encouraged to do so”, Ray said. He seemed more comfortable now that the cat was definitively out of the bag.

 

Sara smiled. Ray was so by the book, and a stickler for following rules, of course he’d follow the guidelines on this as well.

 

“Have you ever been with a man?”

 

“No, though I think once a guy asked me to, but I didn’t realize it at the time, so I didn’t even have the opportunity to say yes or no. I don’t even know what the protocol here is. How can you even tell if another guy is up to dating me? Is it too late for me? Do guys even want to get married, or at least, to me?”

 

“You are just coming out, so you shouldn’t really be focused on falling in love or getting married.”

 

“I shouldn’t?” Ray asked, as if there was no other way to go about it.

 

“Well, you asked for my expertise. You’ve seen me around. You should build up some experience. Kiss a few people. Maybe sleep with a few people. THEN start thinking long term. You shouldn’t try to fall in love with the first person you kiss after coming out.”

 

“I have never been with someone outside of a relationship.” Ray sighed.

 

“Never?” Sara figured she shouldn’t be surprised, considering everything she knew about Ray and Felicity, Kendra and Anna. “Not even in high school?”

 

“I didn’t actually have sex in high school. Only in college. With Anna.”

 

“Well, if you don’t want to, that’s okay too. But my recommendation is to play the field a bit.”

 

“But how do I find a person to do that with? Isn’t it wrong to approach another person to just figure out if I like guys? What if their feelings get hurt?”

 

Sara smiled. “You just have to be up front with them about it.”

 

She could see Ray thinking. “How do you hit on guys?”

 

“Oh. It’s. You just...” Sara made a few faces. “I can’t really teach you that. You just have to go to a bar and ask people.”

 

Ray winced. “Could you at least give me a few guidelines?”

 

“This isn’t something you teach classes in”, Sara sighed.

 

Ray looked at the ground.

 

“Look. Next time we go to present day or a place that more or less accepts gay people, I’ll take you to a gay bar, and I’ll try to help you,” Sara offered. “Deal?”

 

Ray smiled. “Deal.”

 

*************

 

So, a few missions went by, and they found themselves in 2018. Ray hadn’t talked much with Sara since their talk, but she had nodded to him as a sign that this was it. Ray was excited, and scared. At best, this was going to be the first time a guy kissed him. At worst, he’d get punched. He had told Nate. He was his best friend, and he’d taken it really well, and bro-hugged him. The plan was for Sara and Nate to accompany him to the bar, and give him helpful tips during the evening.

 

As they were leaving, at the door of the Waverider they were greeted by Zari, Amaya and Mick. “Where are you off to?” Zari asked.

 

“We’re doing a mission.” Sara replied, very convincingly in Ray’s opinion.

 

Apparently too convincingly, because Zari’s reply was “Great. We’ll help!”

 

Ray had to stop the others from coming along. It was okay to go to a gay bar with Sara and Nate, who were accepting of him. Having Zari and Mick there would not be helpful. At all.

 

“Actually, it’s more of a personal mission for me. Not time aberration related. So you guys really don’t need to come with”, he tried.

 

“Where are you going?” Mick asked.

 

“To a bar”, Ray had to admit.

 

“Then we’ll definitely come ‘help’”, said Mick.

 

“We’re going to a gay bar”, Sara said.

 

“Does it serve alcohol?” Mick asked.

 

“Yes.” Ray admitted again. Why couldn’t he just lie?

 

“Wait, why do you have a personal mission that involves you three going to a gay bar?” Zari asked.

 

Ray stayed quiet. He knew he looked guilty as heck. He stared at the ground and felt his face grow hot.

Sara sighed. “I guess it was ridiculous to try and sneak out without you guys noticing.” She looked at the crew. “I’m going to the bar to look for a threesome.” She sounded very convincing, but Ray couldn’t let her lie for him. Especially since everyone would definitely want to help her find a threesome.

 

Ray sighed and looked up. “Sara, no. It’s very sweet of you to try. But I should just be honest about this.” He looked at Amaya, Zari and Mick. “I’ve been wondering if I’m maybe bi, and into men after all, so we’re going to the bar for me. So I could meet other men.”

 

“Oh. Okay.” was Zari’s response. She didn’t seem much fazed about it. “Can we still come?”

 

Ray turned to look at Mick. He expected ridicule, but instead Mick seemed simply a bit miffed.

 

“Called it. Pay up”, Amaya told Mick. Mick grunted, stuck his hand to his pocket and forked over a few dollars to Amaya’s hand. “I knew Nate was full of it when he said some men from the 2010’s just are the way Ray is without being at least a little gay”, she said.

 

“For the record, some men really are”, Ray interjected, slightly offended. “But I guess I’m not.” He sighed.

 

“Well Haircut, you just cost me 20 bucks. I hope you and your pansy pants are happy”, Mick growled.

 

“I didn’t ask you to bet for or against me”, Ray interjected.

 

“Buy me a drink at the bar and we’re even”, Mick said and shrugged.

 

“Wait, you’re still all coming with?” Ray asked, alarmed.

 

“You couldn’t pay me to stay behind”, Mick chuckled.

 

“Sara...” Ray turned to her, hoping she’d order the others to stay behind.

 

Instead, she shrugged. “Maybe they’ll be helpful?”

 

Nate threw one arm over Ray’s shoulder. “Sorry buddy. But I’m proud of you. Now you’re out to the whole group.”

 

“Except Gideon”, Ray pointed out.

 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that”, Gideon’s ‘face’ and voice appeared out of nowhere, as usual. “I understand the customary response to this information is to congratulate you.”

 

“Thanks?” Ray said weakly.

 

They finally exited the Waverider, leaving it cloaked, and started walking towards the bar. At the bar, they found a table from which to observe Ray’s interactions. First things first, Ray walked over to the counter and ordered a round for the team. He figured they were there mostly to support him. To mock as well, but mostly to support him. He made sure that Mick’s drink was especially fancy. It was equal parts alcohol and some kind of fruit, and the bartender assured him Mick would like it. He brought it over to Mick and he accepted it. Then he looked at it weird.

 

“The hell is this, Haircut?”

 

“You told me to buy you a drink. This is the fanciest drink they had. It cost like 20 bucks”, Ray explained. He had ordered the others either cider or beer.

 

“I meant beer”, Mick grunted. He eyed the drink. Ray reached over to grab the drink, but Mick stopped him. “What?”

 

“Well if you don’t like it, I’ll take it back.” Ray figured the bar didn’t have a return policy on drinks, but he might be able to give it to someone.

 

“I didn’t say that”, Mick said and started sipping the drink.

 

“Alrighty then.” Ray sat next to him at the table. Everybody stared at him. “What?”

 

Sara broke the silence. “I thought you were supposed to be out there talking to people.”

 

“By myself?” Ray asked.

 

“Yes”, they said in unison.

 

“Couldn’t one of you help me?”

 

“If a woman is with you, they will think you guys are a couple. If you’re with one of the guys, the same problem.” Nate explained. “Don’t worry, we’re right here if you get in trouble. I believe in you buddy.” He gave Ray a reassuring pat on the back.

 

Ray nodded and walked back to the counter. He ordered a drink for himself as well, just a cider to take the edge off. He started talking to the bartender, but soon the bartender leaned in to whisper: “Look, you seem nice and all, but the lady back there told me that if you start talking to me, I should tell you to talk to possible hookups. Which means absolutely everybody except me. I’m married.” Ray swallowed and looked back to see Sara waving at her knowingly.

 

“Okay, I can do this. It’s just talking”, Ray told himself and looked around the room. It was kind of like doing reconnaissance for their missions, except this time it was about isolating possible targets--- actually yes it was exactly like their missions.

 

Before he had a chance to do anything, the bartender called him over and handed him a drink. “That guy over there ordered this for you”, he said and pointed behind Ray.

 

Ray was overjoyed. Maybe this being into men thing was simpler than anyone had thought. He had been at the bar for 15 minutes and he had already received a drink from someone. He could just go talk to the person who ordered it for him and talk to him, and maybe that person turned out to be someone really nice and he could---and then he turned around and saw who had sent him the drink.

 

Mick was smiling at him, not unkindly, but definitely chuckling more than a fair bit. Ray frowned and shot him a scowl. Mick seemed surprised at this, and got up and walked up to him.

 

“Why?” Ray asked, suddenly very angry. It felt better to be angry than sad. Which is what he felt now. For a minute there he had thought he could find someone instantly. Now he just felt lonely.

 

“Look, I just meant you need to relax a bit about this whole thing”, Mick said, sounding slightly apologetic. “Drink something. You’re trying to get laid, and drinking usually helps a lot in that regard.”

 

“I’m not just trying to get laid I’ll have you know”, Ray replied. Still, he felt a little less lonely now that he knew Mick wasn’t trying to pick on him.

 

“Whatever. Look, there’s a guy checking you out”, Mick said.

 

“Where?” Ray asked.

 

“Ten o’clock.” Mick replied in a low voice.

 

Ray sneaked a peek, and there really was a pretty good-looking guy looking at him. “You’re right. He is looking here. Should I go over there?”

 

Mick raised an eye-brow. “If you want to.”

 

Ray felt like the twenty steps it took to walk over to the stranger were the longest steps he had ever taken in his life. He was so nervous and possibly a little tipsy that he almost forgot how to walk mid-way through. He recovered pretty gracefully though and managed to walk up to the man. “Hi!”

 

“Hello”, the other man said. He was a bit younger than Ray, his hair was blonde and he was built more like a swimmer than a body builder. He broke into a smile and offered his hand to Ray, who shook it. “I’m Ray”, he said. “Leith. Pleasure.” He looked at Ray and then back towards Mick’s direction. “Hey, are you with that super ripped guy back there? I saw you talking to him back there but I couldn’t really read if you were together or not.” Leith pointed at Mick and gave him an admiring look.

 

“Oh you mean Mick? No, we’re not together. We’re just….friends.” Ray was at the same time a bit bummed that Leith was into someone else and also very relieved that he didn’t have to hit on him.

 

“Okay cool. Do you mind if I go for it?” Leith asked him.

 

“Wait, you’re into Mick?” Ray asked him. He took a look at Mick. He hadn’t really thought about it before, but now that he was looking at Mick in an objective way, Mick was very muscular, in good shape, and had a handsome face. He was also very intense, which was attractive to some people.

 

Leith was waiting for his answer. “No, sure, go, you have my blessing”, Ray replied. Although he worried what Mick’s reaction would be. He took his personal space very seriously. Ray didn’t even know what his view on homosexuality was.

 

He looked on as Leith approached Mick. They exchanged a few words, and then Leith left. Ray wasn’t sure why, but he was relieved. He turned around and began in earnest looking for a possible match. He attempted to strike up a conversation with maybe four men, but they all just turned away from him, ignoring him.

 

He was starting to feel hopeless, when a man appeared from behind him and eyed him up and down. He was maybe 5 years older than Ray, and had dyed his hair red. “I’ve seen you make a play for a lot of the guys here. I like aggressive. Care to follow me?”

 

Ray wasn’t exactly sure what the stranger meant, but he nodded. He probably wanted to talk to him alone. At his nod, the stranger took his hand and lead him to the back of the bar, where the bathroom was situated. Ray figured it was a bit exaggerated to go to the bathroom to escape the noise and to talk, but maybe the stranger knew the bar and its acoustics better than him.

 

Meanwhile, at the table, the other Legends were observing the situation. Sara saw Ray being lead to the bathroom. “Guys, I have a bad feeling about this. I think that guy wants to do him in the men’s room.”

 

“Good. Haircut will be a lot more mellow after getting laid”, Mick chuckled. Sara frowned. “That’s not what he wants right now.” Mick accepted this with a shrug.

 

“I think I’m going to go after him”, Nate said and got up.

 

“Nuh, I’ll go”, Mick said and got up himself. He had just enough time to turn around before they all saw Ray running past them and out of the bar.

 

“Okay, time to go. I think this is pretty good for a first outing, wouldn’t you say?” Amaya asked Nate, who shrugged, seeming unsure himself.

 

Outside they found Ray, hiding behind a car.

 

“Ray, what happened?” Sara asked, reaching out to see if he was hurt.

 

“He wanted to have sex and I reacted by running out”, Ray replied and look mortified.

 

“Did you at least kiss him?” Nate asked.

 

“Yes, but then he grabbed my behind and I bolted”, Ray admitted. “I just. I don’t think I can do something like that with a perfect stranger.” He bent down and squatted.

 

“Maybe you should find a friend with benefits”, Sara suggested. “That way you could experiment, but you would still know the person.”

 

“That could prove a bit difficult, since we live on a time ship. The only people I see regularly are you guys”, Ray pointed out.

 

Sara, Nate, Amaya and Zari all looked at each other. None of them could argue his point.

 

“I’ll do it”, Mick said. He looked a bit frustrated as usual when the solution to a problem the team had was simple but none of the others could see it.

 

“You’ll do what, Mick?” Ray asked. Had they been talking about something else as well, and Mick was replying to another question?

 

“Show you the ropes. Show you what to do with guys.” Mick continued, as if to explain. He took a sip from the beer bottle he had bought after Ray’s fruity drink.

 

It didn’t help. Ray was still confused. “You?”

 

Mick nodded. “Yeah.”

 

Ray wasn’t quite ready to believe that Mick wasn’t messing with him. “You don’t even want me touching your clothes.”

 

“You touching my clothes doesn’t give me orgasms”, Mick stated and took another sip. “But no relationship stuff: we just do things to each other, we are not an item, and you don’t start whispering sweet nothings in my ear.”

 

Ray could feel his temples warm up at that. Suddenly all he could think was Mick doing something sexual to him. He swallowed.

 

Seeing Ray at the very least not refuse Mick’s offer, Sara felt obligated to act. “Ray, that is a terrible idea”, Sara told him. Nate agreed.

 

“Well, it’s exactly what you told me to do”, Ray pointed out. “I know Mick, so it wouldn’t be a stranger, and he just said I can’t fall in love with him. I like following rules, so it’s perfect.”

 

Sara and Nate were still shaking their heads. Amaya and Zari looked at each other and seemed to think it was a bad idea as well, but said nothing.

 

“Have you even done anything with a guy?” Sara asked Mick, who grinned back. “More than you”, he replied. Sara was about to argue, but Mick chuckled and she decided to give up.

 

Sara shook her head. “I still think this is a terrible idea”, she told Ray and Mick.

 

“I appreciate your worry, but I think it’ll be just what I need”, Ray offered. He smiled reassuringly to Sara, who sighed and smiled back.

 

Nate pat Ray on the back as they walked back to the Waverider. “We’re just worried you’ll get your heart broken”, Nate whispered to him to stay out of the others’ earshot.

 

“Why? You heard Mick. It’s not allowed”, Ray pointed out cheerfully.

 

“You just ran from a man for trying to have sex with you outside of a relationship. I don’t think you’re a person who can have sex with someone without falling in love with them before or after”, Nate replied.

 

“Maybe he will be the exception”, Ray suggested.

 

Nate wasn’t convinced. “Uh huh.”

 

Mick and the others were almost at the Waverider. Ray stared at Mick’s back. What a strange turn of events.

 

As if sensing his gaze, Mick turned to look over his shoulder and smirked. It sent a shiver down Ray’s spine.

 

*************

 

They went on a mission the very next day, this time to destroy some 2018 weaponry that had been sent to France in 1848. In the midst of the February revolution, Mick felt right at home. He also got some great inspiration for his next book. Pretty was going on about some guy called Philip who was supposed to be unseated from his throne but had acquired guns from 2018 and now he was stopping the 2nd Republic from being born. Whatever that meant. All Mick knew was that they were outside a building with four different exits. Sara had told him and Haircut to go check out this side of the building and try to find a way in. Which was her way of saying ‘Ray, cover Mick while he breaks in’. So Haircut was wearing his suit, but as his tiny self, so he wouldn’t attract the wrong kind of attention in case the locals saw them. He was in Mick’s pocket while Mick searched for a way in.

 

“Any luck?”, he heard from the coms. He sighed.

 

“Look Haircut, this will go a lot faster if you just let me work”, he replied, hoping that was the end of it.

 

If only.

 

“So. When are we going to do this?” Ray’s voice sounded chipper as ever, but Mick knew the question was loaded as fuck.

 

“When we have time”, Mick answered evasively. He had found a promising nook that might be a secret door. He pulled at the nook and he was rewarded with a crack in the wall. “Do you really want to have this conversation while everyone can hear us on the coms?”

 

“Actually, I had Gideon set up our coms so that I could switch on and off our frequency to theirs”, Ray replied, rather proud of himself.

 

“’Course you did”, Mick grunted and tried to focus on the task at hand.

 

“Look, I know we just discussed this last night, but I’m looking forward to starting my studies”, Ray pointed out.

 

Mick couldn’t help but grunt at that. “Haircut, it’s fucking, not a damn college class”, he retorted. He turned his attention back to the crack in the wall. He started pulling it, hoping that was enough to dislodge it.

 

“It’s an education, maybe a bit different than what I’m used to, but still”, Haircut continued.

 

Mick realized that the other man would probably shut up if he kissed him. That would count as lesson 1 for tonight, and Haircut couldn’t complain about his “studies” for at least a day. Also, it was physically impossible to talk while kissing. At least if you were doing it right.

 

“Haircut, make yourself big for a moment, why don’t you?” Ray obeyed him and soon he was next to Mick. “Why, did you find something?”

 

“Take your helmet off.”

 

“Why, do you need it for something?” Ray took the helmet off anyway, even if he didn’t receive a reply. He looked at Mick questioningly.

 

Mick pulled Ray towards him and kissed him.

 

He had to admit, Ray’s technique wasn’t bad. Just as he was starting to really get into it, Ray had to break the kiss to take a breath, and Mick used that time to slip his tongue through Ray’s slightly parted lips. Ray’s was at first a bit hesitant, but then he let the kiss happen and met Mick’s tongue.

 

The next time Ray had to come up for air, Mick rested his brow against Ray’s, and licked his lips. He then broke the contact and went back to pulling the crack. He could soon open the door completely and let the others know he had succeeded. Once inside, Ray shrank the weapons and Mick put them in his pocket. For once, Haircut was blissfully quiet.

 

Of course, that was when all hell broke loose and they were busted. Ray asked Sara permission to break protocol (meaning to show his totally not from 1848 powers and scare some locals) and after she said yes, he flew him and Mick away from there. They reached the Waverider and saw the others had made it back already. “We found our guns. You?” Mick was short and to the point as usual.

 

“With some difficulty, but yes. I think this is officially our easiest mission yet”, Sara declared.

 

That very instant, a blast came towards Mick. Nate managed to steel up and redirect the blast, and it exploded and set a tree on fire.

 

“You just had to say, didn’t you?” Mick told her. Sara glared at him. She motioned all of them to follow him.

 

“Gideon, status?” Sara called as they ran inside.

 

“It appears we are being fired upon.” Gideon was as helpful as usual.

 

“Can you tell by who?”

 

“Probably by that person over there holding a bazooka”, Mick said and pointed at the far away figure.

 

“Correct”, Gideon affirmed.

 

“I got it”, Ray aimed and shot the bazooka and caused it to explode.

 

The person holding it jerked away from the bazooka just in time. The person looked at them for a moment and then disappeared. They decided not to follow.

 

“Who was that guy?” Nate asked from the others as they returned to the ship.

 

“I don’t know, but he’s packing some very impressive fire power”, Ray replied.

 

“Nate, look up the historical records for clues, we need to find out who wants us dead this time”, Sara said. Nate nodded and headed for the library.

 

Mick headed for the kitchen. He hadn’t eaten in a while, and he figured the ship could fabricate some doughnuts for him. He could tell he was watched though, and as he waited for the doughnuts to be fabricated, he spotted Ray in the door way. “What?”

 

“Well, it’s just”, Ray started. He looked uncomfortable and avoided his gaze.

  
“Spit it out, I’m eating”, Mick told him and sat with his doughnuts. Apparently he had badly misjudged how much alone time the kiss would buy him.

 

Ray turned to face him. “Was I good?”

 

Mick stuffed one doughnut in his mouth to delay his reply. Once he was done with it, he finally asked: “Are you expecting a letter grade, Haircut?”

 

“Kind of.”

 

“Not bad, but you need more practice. You’re looking to kiss guys, so you need to remember you’re not kissing a woman”, Mick told him.

“What does that mean?” Ray came forward and sat next to Mick, and looked at him as if taking notes in his head.

 

“You don’t automatically need to make the first move any more. You don’t need to be the chaser, you can be chased instead”, Mick pointed out.

 

“Right. What does that have to do with kissing?”

 

“Nothing. And everything. Depends”, Mick said. Ray’s face dropped, and he seemed glum. Mick sighed. “I’m screwing with you Haircut. The kiss was fine.”

 

Ray smiled. “So you want to do it again, maybe?”

 

“That was our deal, wasn’t it?” Mick ate another doughnut. Ray reached for a doughnut, and Mick grabbed his collar with his left hand. “Leave my doughnuts alone.”

 

“Make me”, Ray looked exceptionally cheeky and leaned closer, clearly daring him to kiss him. Mick shrugged and raised his right hand to pull the back of Ray’s head. He drew Ray’s lips to his.

 

“Guys, please, at least don’t do this in the kitchen”, Zari’s voice called from behind them. They stopped kissing and saw Sara, Zari and Amaya in the door way. They all looked mostly annoyed, and slightly concerned.

 

“Sorry, won’t happen again”, Ray apologized sincerely. Something about being told what to do annoyed Mick. So, just to piss the others off, he slid his hand in Ray’s pants and grabbed his ass. Ray jolted and stood up. Mick got up with him. “This is just as much our area as it is yours, and since Amaya and Pretty have been making out in the mornings just as much, why shouldn’t we?”

 

“To be fair, at least they are a couple. You two are heartbreak waiting to happen”, Sara called out.

 

“Well, if we’re being honest, then so am I and Nathaniel”, Amaya sighed. Sara looked concerned for her.

 

“Guys, I’m tired of you all thinking I’m incapable of doing stuff without getting attached. I’m fine”, Ray defended himself.

 

“Or is it me you don’t trust?” Mick asked. Sara and Zari both looked down, only Amaya looked at him. “Of course we do”, Amaya said. “Uh huh, and Blondie and New Girl definitely look like they trust me”, he said sarcastically and grabbed his remaining doughnuts and left. He felt hurt, but he’d be damned if he let them see it. Ray stayed with the others.

 

Amaya followed him. She reached him when he was nearly back in his room. “Mick”, she called.

 

He invited her in with a motion and sat in his chair. Amaya leaned back into the wall. “They were overly harsh with you. I’m sorry. They are simply concerned that since Ray is a modern man, very in touch with his feelings, he’ll develop feelings for you. And if you don’t develop those feelings for him, it will be very uncomfortable for the team to watch Ray feeling hurt and you feeling guilty.”

 

Mick liked Amaya, especially now. She explained the situation in a way that made the others’ behaviour make sense. “Haircut’s not going to fall in love with me. I’ve seen his type, and trust me, I ain’t it”, he chuckled, remembering Kendra. Even a male version of Kendra would be more akin to Pretty than Mick, he thought.

 

“Maybe, but based on what I’ve heard, Ray has a tendency to choose unavailable people for the object of his affections. Sound familiar?” Amaya raised an eyebrow.

 

“If he starts getting soft on me, I’ll put an end to it. I promise”, Mick told her. And at the time, he really meant it.

 

She nodded thoughtfully.

 

*************

 

In his room, Ray was lying down on his bed, waiting to drift into sleep. It was a strange feeling, just a few hours earlier he had kissed Mick for the first time. And then again just now. And it didn’t feel weird. It was weird that it didn’t feel weird. Also, Mick was a surprisingly gentle kisser. All in all, Ray congratulated himself for doing pretty well on his first lesson. He wondered what Mick had planned next for the curriculum. He knew Mick had grabbed his ass just piss off the others, but now that he thought of it, he wouldn’t mind it if Mick did it again, just in a more private setting. The last thing he remembered thinking before falling asleep was that Mick’s eyes were rather beautiful when seen up close.

 

The next few days went by rather slowly, as Nate hadn’t found anything on their mystery shooter, and they were out of leads. They still didn’t even know if the mystery shooter was a time traveller, anachronism or just some whack job from 1848. Until they knew more, they couldn’t do much. So they performed a mission in another time, this time fetching Kublai Khan from Quebec 2014. As expected, things got worse before they got better, but they did finally manage to return him before he managed to do any lasting damage to Canada.

 

After the mission, Ray was feeling pretty good about himself, considering it was his invention that had saved the day: he had invented a tracker for the specific metal from 13th century that Kublai Khan carried with him. They had tracked the metal and found him.

 

After they ate together, the team scattered around the ship. Ray found himself behind Mick’s door. He knocked. He heard a grunt and took that as permission to enter.

 

Inside, Mick was lying on his chair and drinking beer. “What?” His face was, as usual, difficult to interpret, so Ray wasn’t sure if he was welcome or not.

 

“I was hoping we could continue my lessons”, Ray said, looking a bit nervous.

 

“Okay. Sit”, Mick agreed.

 

Ray sat on the chair next to Mick. Mick rolled his eyes. “I meant sit on me, Haircut”, he said, and motioned towards his lap.

 

Ray swallowed. He got up and carefully placed one knee at a time on either side of Mick so he was sitting on Mick. He placed his hands on Mick’s chest and waited. He was unsure how to proceed. Mick was still holding his beer. Should he wait until he put the beer away? Should he just kiss him? Was that impolite?

 

Mick seemed to notice his hesitation and sighed. He put away the beer and pulled Ray to him. Ray kissed him eagerly. He could taste the beer and some sugary treat Mick had been eating at dinner on his lips. This time he was the first to use tongue. It felt good. Mick slid his hands down Ray’s back onto his butt and beckoned him towards him. That caused Ray to break the kiss and look Mick questioningly. He needed instructions.

 

“You’re supposed to grind me”, Mick told him, moving him a bit back and forth in an effort to explain. Ray felt like all the blood in his body rushed to his head. “Won’t that make you...”

Kissing was different from intentionally riding someone into orgasm. Ray hadn’t expected to be going this fast, then again he hadn’t really thought they wouldn’t, either.

 

“Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing?” Mick’s voice was low. He kissed him again. Ray then nodded. “Okay”, he said and started moving as they kissed. He felt slightly obscene, riding him like that, but it felt good. He could tell Mick was enjoying himself by the noises he was making. He could feel Mick get hard through his pants. He wrapped his arms around Mick’s neck, and sighed against his skin. Suddenly he decided that he wanted to look into Mick’s eyes as he came, so he then moved to stare into Mick’s eyes. They were hazel. He started moving faster. “Haircut”. It sounded like a question, but Ray kept looking at him and Mick looked back. He looked vulnerable. Or aroused. Ray couldn’t tell. Mick started getting closer, and Ray continued moving.

 

Mick came. He convulsed, and his grip on Ray shifted. He let out a breath. Ray wasn’t quite sure why, but right at that moment he had the sudden urge to flee. He wasn’t sure what he was doing there, now that the deed was done. He was still holding onto Mick. He realized Mick was looking at him questioningly. “You alright?”

 

Ray detached himself from Mick and stood up. “Yeah, of course. Well, I better go”, he said, and started for the door.

 

“Do you want me to do something about that?” Mick called after him.

 

Ray turned around. “What?” He looked down and noticed he was hard himself. “Oh.” He realized he didn’t feel like going anywhere after all, he had simply wanted to relieve himself privately. But Mick was offering to do it for him. “Yes please”, he replied.

 

Mick stood up and backed Ray against the wall. All the while staring Ray in the eyes, he slid his hand in Ray’s pants, but this time from the front so his hand was on Ray’s penis. He started rubbing it up and down, and once Ray was nearing completion, slid another hand to stroke him in the space between his balls and asshole. Ray felt a wave of pleasure wash over him and opened the eyes he had at some point closed to see Mick’s satisfied smirk. He was glad Mick was leaning against him quite hard because otherwise he might have dropped to his knees.

 

They stayed like that for a moment. Then Mick leaned back, and Ray let out a sigh in spite of himself.

 

“Okay. You hit the shower first, I’ll come after you”, Mick told him.

 

For a moment, Ray didn’t register what he had said. “Oh.” Mick raised his eyebrow, and Ray realized he was expecting an answer. “Sure. Thank you”, he said. He wasn’t sure if he was thanking Mick for the whole experience or for getting to use the shower first. The Waverider still had only one bathroom. Mick nodded and Ray waved at him goodbye.

 

After the shower, he bumped into Nate. “Hey man”.

 

“How’s it going?” Nate asked, though he seemed like he knew the answer already.

“I was just hanging out with Mick”, Ray told him.

 

“Uh huh”, Nate replied. “So how is the grand experiment going? Is Mick being good to you?”

 

“Really good”, Ray told him. “He let me use the shower first, so he was nice about it”, he told him.

 

Nate looked surprised. “You mean you already did it?”

 

“Oh no, we just … I mean, we did but not that”, Ray tried explaining, but didn’t want to go into specifics, and Nate definitely looked uncomfortable knowing the specifics.

 

“Alright then”, Nate replied. “So, are you feeling anything yet?”

 

“For Mick? No. I told you, he’s just teaching me how to do this with other guys”, Ray told him. He certainly hadn’t stared into Mick’s eyes or wondered how he was pretty handsome up close.

 

“Sure”. Nate didn’t sound convinced, but he patted Ray on the shoulder and bade him goodnight.

 

At that, they saw Mick move past them without his shirt on, headed for the shower. Ray stared after him. He had forgotten Mick’s upper body was covered in scar tissue. He had the urge to follow Mick into the shower and touch his arms and explore the scars. He wondered how much feeling Mick had in those areas.

 

He didn’t realize he was licking his lips before he heard Nate cough. He turned to Nate and saw him looking at him, concerned.

 

“I’m fine”, he told him.

 

Nate just shook his head and left.

 

*************

 

The next morning, Ray had gotten up early to start working on Belgian waffles for Mick. He figured it was the least he could do, given that Mick was kind enough to help him with his ‘education’. He prepared some whipped cream, ice cream and different types of jellies to serve with the waffles, as well as some spreads, meat and slices of bacon in case Mick wanted to start off with salty waffles. It took him a while, but he managed to get everything ready by the time Mick and Amaya turned up at the kitchen. Ray had asked her to get Mick to the kitchen earlier than usual so that Ray could ‘coincidentally’ get everything ready on time.

 

“Oh, you’re up early Mick”, Ray told him and offered him a plate. Mick accepted the plate and dug in.

 

“What’s all this?” Mick asked, suspicious. Ray had a habit of making breakfast for the team but this seemed extravagant, even for him.

 

“It’s for you. For helping me with...my studies”, Ray replied coyly.

 

At that, Zari, Nate and Sara arrived to the kitchen as well. “Wow Ray, you’ve really outdone yourself this time”, Sara complimented him as she fished out a waffle for herself.

 

“Yeah Ray, you made breakfast for a small army. Are we headed for a mission afterwards?” Zari asked, turning to Sara, who shook her head to indicate that she at least hadn’t heard of any mission.

 

“Actually, these are mostly for Mick”, Ray pointed out, leading everybody to stare at Mick, who looked up from his tower of waffles. “Yeah, these are ‘O’ waffles”, Mick told them, with a devious smile.

 

“Meaning?” Nate asked.

 

“As in, you only get waffles if you know what Haircut’s ‘O’ face looks like”, Mick replied, purposely licking his lips lecherously to provoke a reaction from the team. He was successful, as everybody stared at Ray, who flushed at his words.

 

“Oh. You told me you hadn’t done it yet”, Nate told Ray.

 

“Oh no, we’re not having sex yet. We just did this thing that lead to--”, Ray replied and stopped before telling them any more of their ‘activities’.

 

“If this is what I get every time I bring you to orgasm, we should do this much more often”, Mick grunted and kept on eating as everybody watched him. Ray smiled, pleased that Mick enjoyed the waffles.

 

*************

 

They ran into the hooded man again in 1438 after they had made sure Albert II of Habsburg became the King of Hungary as intended, instead of Attila the Hut taking over. The hooded man had gotten a new bazooka to boot. This time they were prepared, though, and Mick stepped out of the way when the man fired on him. The man escaped again, but this time they at least knew he was a time traveller. After returning Attila the Hut to his own time period, they started spit-balling ideas of the man’s identity. Or if it was a man at all. Eventually they gave up for the time being, as all they could figure out that the man or woman was either from the future or had been given future tech by someone else. They settled on their best course of action being trying to unmask the hooded man.

 

A few missions had gone by after he and Haircut had begun their “experiment”. Mick had started getting used to Haircut coming to him for some nookie after a mission. Today was no different, and he heard a knock on his door. Mick was lying on his bed reading a book. He hid it and barked a reply.

 

After hearing his reply, Ray slipped in and looked like he always did before they started, eager but also a bit like he didn’t know what to do. Even though Mick had told him to just do what he wanted to, Ray always insisted on asking if what he wanted to try was okay, either verbally or by looking at him before doing anything. Mick sighed and beckoned him to come to him. Ray obeyed, and came to him. “Could you sit?” Ray asked him. Mick sat up on the edge of the bed. “No, I mean against the wall”, Ray continued.

 

Mick smiled and did what Ray asked. Ray straddled him carefully. He leaned in to kiss Mick. Then he started removing Mick’s shirt. Mick was surprised. He hadn’t expected Ray to want to move so fast. “You sure you’re up for this, Haircut?”

 

“Are you worried about me?” Ray asked him, looking surprised himself.

 

“No, but the team will have my hide if I hurt you, so I’d rather avoid that”, Mick replied. Ray’s eyes dropped for a moment, then returned his gaze.

 

“Well, I don’t mean for us to have sex yet. I just want to fool around without our shirts on”, Ray clarified.

 

“Okay then.” Mick removed his own shirt and then hiked up Ray’s shirt for him. Ray raised his arms and Mick pulled off the shirt. Ray placed his hands on Mick’s chest. He seemed interested in Mick’s scars. He moved his hands on Mick’s chest and his arms, tracing the scar tissue all over. “Does it hurt?”

 

“Not the scars themselves, but the areas around them do”, Mick replied, hoping to get to making out. The burns had also burned through the nerves on the affected areas, but the neighbouring areas caused chronic aches.

 

“How often?”

 

“All the damn time”, Mick replied truthfully. “Why do you think I drink?”

 

Ray looked at him with concern. “But Gideon could fix all that.”

 

“I’ve told her not to”, Mick replied. He was starting to think they weren’t going to do anything tonight. He looked away from Ray, but Ray’s hand on his cheek guided him back to stare into the other man’s eyes.

 

“Why?”

 

“None of your business”, Mick replied. “Look, are we doing this or not?”

 

Ray nodded and kissed him. He then arched his back so he could kiss the scarred areas of Mick’s chest. He worked so gently that Mick was starting to feel uncomfortable. Like they were suddenly too close. Too intimate. This kind of mushy stuff was exactly what they needed to avoid, to keep Haircut from forming any ridiculous feelings for him. He flipped Haircut around and on his stomach to the bed. He held Ray’s arms in place to keep Ray on his stomach and most importantly, to avoid Ray from looking at him again. “Mick, what..?”

 

“Do you want a hickey, Haircut?” He breathed in Ray’s ear, and Ray nodded against the sheets.

 

Mick started sucking Ray’s neck, first carefully but then hard enough for a hickey to form. Ray gave out some noises of pain and pleasure, depending on how hard Mick was sucking. Once he was done, there was a promising red spot on Ray’s neck. He released Ray and sat up. Ray got up as well and Mick noticed his arms were red where Mick had held him down. “Sorry”, he said, motioning towards the arms.

 

“It’s fine”, Ray replied, smiling. “Do you want me to give you one?” He motioned towards Mick’s neck.

Mick nodded, and Ray wrapped his arms around him, and started working.

 

“Harder”, Mick told him. Ray sucked harder, but it wasn’t enough. “Harder”, he repeated, and Ray started using his teeth. That worked.

 

Suddenly Ray flinched backwards. “Oh no. Sorry Mick.” He looked upset and worried.

 

“What?”

  
“You’re bleeding”, Ray told him, and pointed at his neck. Mick raised his hand to touch the place, and found blood.

 

“Good. Well done”, Mick told him.

 

“You mean you wanted this?”

 

“Sure”. Since Mick was so calm about it, Ray seemed to calm down as well. They were silent for a moment. Then Mick moved and laid down on the bed again. “I think I’m going to sleep.”

 

“Okay, I’m going to go find a shirt with a collar on it. I’ll catch you later?” Ray stood up and headed for the door.

 

“Why? The point of a hickey is to show it to other people”, Mick told him.

 

“You want the others to see your mark on me?” Ray looked surprised, and glad.

 

“Sure. It’s kind of hot.”

 

Ray smiled and left. Mick turned to his side on the bed, and thought back on the moment where Ray examined his scars. They might have a problem after all. He would have to be more vigilant during their future sessions.

 

He reached the wound on his neck with one finger and brought it to his mouth. He licked the blood off the finger and tasted the iron. “Not bad.”

 

*************

 

Over the next few days the team saw Ray in his usual T-shirt, but unlike usual, he had a bright red hickey on his neck, and had bruises in his arms. Hand-shaped bruises.

 

“Do you think he’s okay?” Zari asked Nate while they were doing their chore wheel duties, this time meaning cleaning the kitchen.

 

“He seems his regular chipper self”, Nate replied, looking dejected. He didn’t look convinced by his own words.

 

“Look, I saw Ray’s childhood self and he’s apparently always been the kind of person that takes even something terrible and sees the best in it”, Zari said.

 

“Mick’s not terrible”, Nate told her.

 

“No, but their dynamic is”, Zari insisted.

 

“I’ve tried telling Ray that this is a terrible idea, but he won’t listen to me”, Nate sighed.

 

“Maybe you should tell Mick”, Zari suggested.

 

“Amaya said she already talked to him about it.”

 

“Well, apparently it wasn’t enough. You’re Ray’s best friend, you should try.”

 

Nate shrugged. “I guess.”

 

So Nate found himself behind Mick’s door. He knocked, and heard a reply. He stepped inside and by the look on Mick’s face, he could see Mick had been expecting someone else. Probably Ray. Mick recovered pretty fast, though. “What’s up, Pretty?” Mick was sitting in his chair.

 

Nate wasn’t sure what to think about that nickname now that he knew Mick also liked guys sexually, but this wasn’t the time to ask about that.

 

“I kind of wanted to talk to you about Ray”, he started.

 

“Has Haircut complained about me?” Mick asked him. He sounded actually worried about the possibility.

 

“No no, he seems fine”, Nate replied. “But we both know it is just a matter of time before he starts developing feelings for you.”

 

“I’m not exactly his type, just like I told Amaya”, Mick pointed out. Nate realized Amaya hadn’t told him the full extent of their conversation.

 

“It doesn’t matter. We are talking about Ray Palmer, who saw a baby dominator as a pet. It will happen, whether you think it will or not.”

 

Mick was silent for a time. “I promised Amaya I’d stop it if it came to that.”

 

“It will be too late by then”, Nate told him.

 

“Well, what are the options then?” Mick asked him.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“If I stop teaching Ray, he’ll have to find someone else, and since no one else on the ship wants to teach him, he’ll have to do this with some stranger, and since he can’t do this with a stranger, we’re back to square one with him running away from the bar, like he did back then”, Mick explained.

 

“So you’re doing this for Ray’s benefit?” Nate asked incredulously.

 

“No, I’m in this for the pleasure of it”, Mick replied. He had been serious so far, but now he was clearly content to see Nate squirm. “He’s a pretty good-looking guy, our Ray. And he has some decent moves. I expect he’ll be pretty good in the sack”, he said with wink to Nate.

 

“Just please be good to him”, Nate asked, trying to ignore his smirk.

 

Mick grew serious again. “I will.”

 

Nate nodded and left Mick alone to ponder on his words. Mick had intentionally teased Nate, but now that he was alone, he could admit he was worried. Not about Ray falling in love with him, because that was impossible. Haircut was a profoundly good man, whereas Mick was deeply damaged as a person. Mick was certain that laws of nature would prevent Ray from falling for him. Then again, Ray gently kissing his scarred skin had left him feeling...he wasn’t sure how, but it was worrying.

 

Mick grabbed a beer. It was time to get drunk. Whenever he was feeling things, it usually helped to drink.

 

*************

 

Meanwhile, Ray stared into the mirror. The bruises on his arms were starting to fade. The hickey however remained. He kind of liked a physical reminder of his dalliance with Mick. Sometimes he could hardly believe it, and felt like pinching himself. He got to touch Mick freely, and Mick welcomed his touch. Considering how their relationship had been before, he remembered mostly being rebuffed, even back when his touches had been platonic.

 

“Gideon”, he called out. “Has Mick told you why he doesn’t want you to heal him completely?”

 

“Mr. Rory has not shared that information with me, but I suspect it has to do with his guilt”, Gideon replied.

 

“Guilt over what?”

 

“The people he dreams about.” Gideon had learned to be discreet while disclosing what they saw in their dreams. Ray nodded, and let it go. He’d have to ask Mick about it some time. He couldn’t believe Mick refused treatment over guilt. Then again, was it possible Mick didn’t believe he deserved to live pain-free?

 

He left the bathroom, and went to knock on Mick’s door. He could hear music, so he didn’t wait to hear Mick’s answer. Inside, he saw Mick sitting on his bed, facing a tv.

 

“Not now Haircut, I’m watching something”, Mick told him, annoyed. He paused the show he was watching.

 

Ray had recognized the tune. “Is that...Fiddler on the roof?” He had heard from Sara that Mick liked the musical, but he hadn’t fully believed her before now.

 

“Yeah, what about it?”

 

“Nothing, I just...can I watch too?” Ray was always happy to watch a musical. And watching it with Mick would be extra special.

 

“Look, I’m about to get hammered, so I was just going to be by myself”, Mick told him. He motioned towards the beer bottles he had gathered on his desk.

 

“Okay, I’ll just--” Ray was disappointed, but tried not to let it show.

 

Apparently he failed. Mick sighed. “Fine. You can stay. But just watch and listen.”

 

Ray smiled and sat right next to Mick on the bed. He noticed that there was something in Mick’s lap. “Is that Axel?”

 

“Yeah, he likes sitting on my lap when I watch something”, Mick mumbled and turned the show back on.

 

Ray scratched Axel a little and it scratched him back, pleased at the attention. Then he leaned back and quickly glanced at Mick, who was staring intently at the screen.

 

Mick had just begun watching, so Ray hadn’t missed anything. They were silent for a while. Then Ray laid his hand on Mick’s leg. He breathed in and out, but Mick hadn’t reacted.

 

Without moving his hand, he took a peak at Mick’s face. The older man was staring at the screen, and looked emotional. His lips were moving as he mouthed the dialogue as the characters spoke. Ray had never seen Mick so vulnerable. He had the sudden urge to wrap his arms around him, and to kiss him. But he did neither of those things. He just stared at Mick until the musical ended.

 

After it ended, Mick pat his own leg as applause. Ray let go of his leg. Axel climbed up to give Mick a kiss and then climbed back down. Mick put him in his cage. “It has to stay in the cage during the nights, otherwise he might chew on the cables”, he explained. “Imma sleep now.”

 

“Ok, goodnight”, Ray let out. He left before Mick could answer. He had just realized something, and he needed to be alone. He felt confused and needed to process what exactly he was feeling.

 

Back in his own quarters he laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “Darn it.”

 

*************

 

A few missions went by before they had a chance to see each other. Either they were both tired or their investigation on the hooded man took most of their time.

 

Then finally one night Ray found himself outside of Mick’s room again. Inside, he was greeted by Mick, who was sitting on the bed. “Haircut, perfect timing. I was getting horny.”

 

Ray couldn’t help but flush at that. The door closed behind him and he greeted Mick with a kiss. They kissed a while. Then Mick motioned him to get on his knees on the floor. “I think it’s time you learned some new tricks, Haircut”, he said, handing him a pillow.

  
“What do I do with this?” Ray asked.

 

“You put it under your knees so they don’t hurt while you blow me”, Mick told him. Ray swallowed and did as he was told. With the pillow under his knees, he stared at Mick, who in turn started hiking his pants down. “Do you prefer me completely naked or just my penis visible?” Mick asked him.

 

“I don’t even know”, replied Ray. Mick shrugged and just pulled his penis out. Ray swallowed again. It was the first time he was this close to another penis, and he didn’t know what to do.

 

Mick seemed to notice, as he gave him a rather thorough description of what he expected Ray to do. “Also, no teeth. The one rule.”

 

Ray was still nervous. He looked up, and he saw that Mick’s eyes were closed. He bit his lip.

 

“Haircut, I can hear you thinking”, Mick said and opened his eyes again. “What’s wrong? Do you not want to do this?”

 

“I do, but I don’t feel good about doing it if you don’t look at me while I do it”, Ray told him. _I’m afraid you’re thinking about someone_ _else_ _if you don’t look at me_ , he thought, but didn’t say it out loud.

 

“Okay, I’ll look at you”, Mick agreed, and did as promised.

 

Ray nodded and started by licking the shaft, all the while rubbing up and down with his hand. Mick’s eyes narrowed, but as promised, he kept his gaze on Ray. Ray slipped his penis in his mouth and licked it. He looked at Mick, whose lips quivered. He was really happy he could be the cause of pleasure to Mick. If he really was in pain all the time, maybe this would distract him from it.

 

He hadn’t realized he had forgotten what he was doing before Mick put his hand on his head and pulled his hair. It gave Ray a jolt of pleasure, and he resumed his work. Soon Mick came. They hadn’t agreed on whether Ray would spit or swallow, so he ended up doing a mix of both and making a bit of a mess. Ray felt embarrassed, and stared at the floor where the mess was.

 

Mick felt such empathy towards the other man at that moment. He handed him a box of tissues. “Can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs”, he said and wiped Ray’s cheek with a tissue. He then took a few tissues for himself to clean himself up. Ray wiped the semen that he had spit on the floor and threw the tissues to the bin. He then got up and sat next to Mick on the bed, and kissed him. “Thank you.”

 

Mick grunted. Ray kissed him again. “When we have sex, I’d like you to pull my hair, like you did just now”, he blurted out.

 

“Okay. I can do that”, Mick replied. That had been a fantasy of his for a while now, so he was more than willing to oblige.

 

“Do you want to spoon?” Ray asked him.

 

Mick wasn’t sure. He was supposed to be avoiding romantic stuff like that, so that Ray wouldn’t get hurt. “I think that’s the kind of mushy stuff we’re supposed to avoid”, Mick replied. “You know, so things don’t get complicated”, he explained. It hurt to see Ray’s face drop.

 

“You’re right”, Ray said. “I should just go.” He made a move to get up, but Mick grabbed hand and sighed. “Mick?”

 

“No, I think it’s time you and I both learned about after-care.” The very fact that he knew the term at all was thanks to Gideon. Before they began their experiment, Mick had told her to give him pointers about this sort of thing. One of those had been this.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“After sex stuff, you’re not just supposed to kick someone out, but relax. Maybe eat something. Cuddle. Whatever you agree to together.” Mick was unsure himself, but it was better to sound confident about these things.

 

“And spoon?” Ray asked hopefully.

 

“I guess. It lets the other person know they’re not just a piece of meat.” Mick was even more unsure now. He was supposed to be avoiding romantic stuff to avoid Ray getting hurt, but if he just kicked him out after they did stuff like this, that would also hurt him. He sighed and laid down on the bed. He motioned Ray to come to him. Ray laid down on the bed as well, so that Mick was the big spoon. Mick wrapped his left arm over him and drew him closer. “Remember, we’re doing this so that when you’re with a guy, you’ll remember what to do. We’re not doing mushy stuff.”

 

“Of course.” Ray agreed way too obediently to be genuine.

 

Mick breathed against his neck and kissed it. “Thanks by the way. For the BJ.”

 

“You’re welcome.” Ray turned around to face Mick and kissed him.

 

Mick kissed him back, but he was worried. “Haircut...”

 

“It’s okay, I’m not going to fall in love with you”, Ray assured him and kissed him on the nose. Then on his forehead. Then his cheek. He planted little kisses all around his face.

 

Mick was afraid. He was starting to feel the same way he had back when Ray had kissed his scars. Like he was cared for. Maybe even loved. More than in a long time.

 

“Mick?”

 

“Um. I’m taking a nap”, he said and pushed himself a bit further so he could hold Ray against his chest. That way Ray couldn’t see his eyes tear up. He would’ve preferred to cry alone, but he had promised Ray to spoon with him. Also, he suddenly realized this had to be the last time they did this. He couldn’t bear to continue. So he held Ray like that for a long time before and after Ray fell asleep. He watched Ray sleep. Of course he smiled in his sleep. He even snickered at some point. Mick wished he was able to sleep like that.

 

At some point, Mick had evidently fallen asleep, because he woke up from a nightmare. He sat up and started pounding his head with his fist to dispel the image of the nightmare.

 

Suddenly he felt two arms gently close around his head and stop him from hurting himself. “Don’t”, Ray whispered.

 

Mick let his arms fall to his sides. His chest felt tight. All of a sudden he couldn’t breath. He thought the moment would pass, but it didn’t. He gasped for air, trying to breath. He detached himself from Ray clumsily. “I have to go.”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Mick couldn’t answer. He reached the door and exited. In the hallway, he had to lean against the wall to stay standing up. “Gideon, why the hell can’t I breath?”

 

“I believe you are experiencing a panic attack”, Gideon replied.

 

“Can you help me or not?” Mick asked, doubling down on the floor. Ray, who had appeared by his side, helped him up. “Mick! I’ll take you to the medbay.”

 

At the medbay, Ray helped Mick on the chair.

 

“I believe Mr. Rory would prefer it if I took care of him in private”, Gideon called out to Ray. Ray looked at Mick for confirmation, and Mick nodded weakly.

 

“I hope you get better soon”, Ray told him and squeezed his shoulder.

 

Ray ran into Sara and told her that Mick was in the medbay. He didn’t say panic attack or what exactly had happened. But she needed to know something was up with Rory, she was the captain after all. They agreed to keep it between themselves until they knew more.

 

They met the others for breakfast. Mick was barely ever on time for breakfast so nobody questioned why he wasn’t there with them. Ray tapped his left foot until Sara’s face made him stop.

 

After breakfast, Ray stopped by the medbay, but Mick was no longer there. So Ray returned to Mick’s door and knocked. He heard a familiar grunt and entered.

 

Mick was sitting in his chair. By his appearance, he looked fine. Ray leaned over to plant a kiss on his lips. Mick moved his lips in reply, but not like he usually did.

 

“Mick? Are you alright?” Ray asked and sat on the bed.

 

“Look, Raymond”, Mick started.

 

“Using my real name? Now I’m worried”, Ray joked, but his face fell when he saw Mick.

 

Mick looked grave. “I think we should end this.”

 

It was like a punch to the gut. “Why? Did I do something wrong? I just didn’t want you to hurt yourself”, Ray began, trying to explain himself.

 

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I just think it’s time”, Mick said calmly.

 

Ray looked away. “But there’s so much more you could teach me.”

 

“You can do this yourself now. Find a good guy and bone him.” Mick looked the other way as well.

 

“Okay. Well, I guess, thank you for the lessons. They were fun.”

 

“Pleasure.”

 

Ray stood up tentatively, hoping that Mick would say something more, but there was only silence.

 

He returned to his own room and curled up on the bed. He wished he had said something to Mick. Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference. Talking to Mick about feelings wouldn’t work. Ray was disappointed that everything had turned out like everyone had suspected: Ray had caught feelings for Mick. Just as everyone had predicted. Nate had warned him to protect his heart. Nate had been talking about Nora Dahrk back then, but it applied here as well. Ray thought back on his first meeting with Mick, and how during their years together their relationship had changed. Had he always felt this way, and their dalliance together had simply brought it to the surface? He remembered Nate once joking that if he and Mick were a couple, their relationship wouldn’t change: he would still try to get Mick to eat healthier, he’d still try to hug him, and touch him. The only difference would be that Mick would let him. And they’d do laundry together. Ray remembered laughing about the very idea back then, but now all he could do was to remember how none of that would happen.

 

Mick would never touch him again. Ray was alone again.

 

He pulled the covers over his head. He just had to think positive. He held onto his pillow more tightly.

 

_Just think pos_ _itive_ , he told himself. _And never let the others find out they were right_.

 

*************

 

Breaking it off with Haircut had to be done. Now that that was done and over with, Mick needed something to distract himself from unnecessary feelings. This is where alcohol came into the picture. He fabricated himself some bottles of hard liquor. Coupled with the ones he already had in his room, they should be enough to drink himself into oblivion.

 

So that’s exactly what he did. After he got to the point he couldn’t drink any more, he drank some more. Around 2pm, he was already puking all over the floor. Luckily he had taken Axel to Amaya for safe keeping. Mick was in no state to feed the little guy.

 

After he had puked everything he had to give, he passed out on the floor next to his vomit.

 

He woke up near midnight. He looked at the vomit and decided not to clean it up just then. He knew he would have to eat before getting hammered again. So he found the kitchen, and fabricated some greasy hangover waffles for himself. He ate all of them, while feeling like vomiting again. They were not as good as the ones Ray had made him. At that thought, he felt like drinking again, but he decided to wait until the next meal to start drinking again. Otherwise he might have an actual case of alcohol poisoning in his hands. So he returned to his room and slept some more. A couple of hours later, he ate again, pretty much the same pile of waffles. Then he began drinking again. Since his stomach was full, it would take a while for him to get inebriated.

 

It was like a drinking game: every time he thought of Haircut, he drank.

 

Those were the worst couple of days of his life. True, he was usually tipsy most of the time, but he was more buzzed than flat out drunk. These couple of days took him on the worst bender of his life.

 

And it still wasn’t enough, because he was still thinking of Ray.

 

*************

 

Nate found Ray in the library, reading a book. “Trying to steal my job?”

 

“Of course”, Ray replied.

 

“So what’s up?” Nate asked, sitting opposite Ray.

 

Ray smiled. “Pretty normal. Have you found anything on the hooded guy?”

 

“Nada.” Nate looked at him. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

 

“Yeah, totally. Oh, by the way, Mick ended the experiment.” Ray shrugged, and looked at him as if he had just told him that he had accidentally spilled some milk.

 

“Really?” Nate was surprised at Ray’s casual tone.

 

“Yeah, he told me I’m ready to do this by myself, so I guess I should find someone else”, Ray said. He was quiet for a while. “Wait a minute. Every time we’ve run into the hooded man, he’s targeted Mick specifically. Has he ever fired on anybody else?”

 

Nate shook his head. “I think you’re right. Somebody is after Mick.”

 

They gathered everybody to Sara’s office and explained the situation.

 

“So, we’re looking for an enemy of Rory’s? Should be a short list”, Sara said sarcastically.

 

“Mick might be able to help narrow down the pool of suspects, but he’s been a bit busy these past few days”, Zari pointed out.

 

Sara looked at Amaya. “As in?”

 

“He’s making a valiant effort to remain intoxicated during waking hours”, she told her. “He gave me the rat to feed because he knows he can’t.

 

“Why is Rory trying to drink himself to death?” Sara asked. “Did your experiment leave you hurt already? Is he feeling guilty?” she asked Ray, who shook his head.

 

“No, I’m fine. He ended things with me. So it shouldn’t have anything to do with that”, Ray said, sounding more cheerful than he looked.

 

“Okay. Amaya, go drag Rory here, we need him as bait”, Sara ordered.

 

So Amaya found herself knocking on Mick’s door.

 

“Are you there?” she asked and entered when she heard a noise that vaguely sounded like the word _yeah_.

 

Inside he found Mick sitting on the floor, holding a bottle. The smell was nauseating. She saw pools of vomit next to him. She approached him, fighting not to gag at the smell, and kneeled next to him. He was conscious. That was at least something. “Mick?” His eyes found her face.

 

“Hi”, he said with a vague smile.

 

“Mick, why do you want to hurt yourself?”

 

“I’m not trying to hurt myself. I’m trying not to think”, Mick replied.

 

“What about?” Amaya asked and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

 

“I don’t want to talk about it”, he said.

 

Amaya realized something. “Is it Ray?”

 

Mick looked away, but he didn’t deny it, either.

 

“You caught feelings for him”, Amaya stated. “It wasn’t Ray who got hurt. It was you.”

 

Mick looked sad and tired. “Don’t tell the others. Especially Haircut”, Mick told her.

 

“I won’t”, she promised.

 

“And not Pretty either. That’s the same as telling Haircut”, Mick insisted.

 

“I won’t”, she promised again. “But I need you to get up. We discovered that the hooded man is after you, specifically.”

 

Mick nodded. “Sounds about right.”

 

“We want to use you as bait.”

 

After Mick had showered and eaten something, they put their plan into motion. They travelled to 1420 and found a relatively quiet place by the beach to drop off Mick. He was to roam the place alone, while the others followed close behind.

 

It didn’t take long for the hooded man to arrive. After Mick had passed a large rock, the man appeared from behind it and grabbed him. “Finally”, the man muttered and would’ve stabbed Mick had it not been for Ray gliding between them, first in miniature size and then growing to his normal size, causing the man to fall on the wet sand. Ray dove down and grabbed the man’s hood.

 

He flinched backwards. “It’s---it’s Mick”, he called out to the others who were just now arriving behind him. He looked at their Mick and the one lying on the sand. Their Mick looked just as confused as he did. The Mick who had been the hooded man got up and looked angry.

 

“Haircut, I don’t want to hurt you. Just let me kill myself and we’re golden”, he growled at Ray and started towards Mick, but Ray stopped him. Mick hadn’t even reacted.

 

“Okay, let’s haul him back to the ship and ask questions later. Ray, shrink him”, Sara commanded, and Ray obeyed. He then carefully held the miniature sized Mick in his hands and they got back to the ship.

 

They locked the miniaturized Mick to the brig and Ray resized him back to normal.

 

“Why do you want our Rory dead?” Sara asked him.

 

“We’re both your Rory. I’m just a tiny bit into the future version of this piece of shit”, the Mick in the cell answered, pointing at the barely sober Mick.

 

“Mick, what did he do to make you hate Mick so much?” Zari asked. “Is anyone else having trouble keeping track of which Mick we’re talking about?”

 

“How about we say present Mick, future Mick?” Nate suggested.

 

“That works”, Amaya said.

 

“You didn’t answer their question”, Ray told future Mick. Future Mick eyed Ray like he was lunch.

 

“He knows what he did wrong”, future Mick replied.

 

They turned towards present Mick. “What is he talking about, Mick?” Ray asked him.

 

Present Mick shrugged. “I have no idea.”

 

“I guess you _can_ drink yourself stupid”, future Mick said mockingly.

 

“I honestly don’t know what you mean”, present Mick told him. “Just spit it out!”

 

“You could’ve been happy but instead you chose to do everything in your power to stop it!” future Mick yelled at him.

 

Present Mick turned to Sara. “Can I talk to me in private?”

 

Sara nodded. However, future Mick had different ideas. “I’ll only talk to myself if I get to talk to Haircut first”, he said.

 

“Okay. Ray, you’re up”, Sara called and everybody else left, including present Mick.

 

Ray was still in his Atom suit so he took it off while future Mick watched, intently.

 

“What do you want to talk about?” He wasn’t sure how he was taking the existence of two Micks. He already had one that had rejected him. Or not that he had him, but still.

 

“I’ll whisper it to you if you come inside the cell”, future Mick told him, and smiled lecherously.

 

“Are you going to hit me over the head and escape if I do that?” Ray was pretty sure he was being played, but the other man was still Mick, whom he trusted.

 

“No, I told you, I only have a problem with myself”, future Mick replied. “So, are you coming?”

 

Ray entered the cell, and closed the door behind him. He approached future Mick. “So, what is it?”

 

“Come closer”, future Mick beckoned him, and Ray obeyed. Once he was right in front of Mick, he leaned in to hear what Mick had to say, but Mick kissed him instead.

 

It had only been four days since present Mick had ended things with him, but Ray had missed his touch dearly. He wrapped his arms around future Mick’s neck and really leaned in to the kiss. Mick grabbed him by the small of his back and carefully laid them both on the floor, Ray on his back and Mick on top of him. Mick kept kissing him and started hoisting up his Atom suit’s under shirt that Ray still had on him. Soon Ray’s chest was bare. With a rather smooth move, Mick removed his own shirt and started undoing the buttons of his jeans. Ray wasn’t sure if he was ready, but he also knew he didn’t want to stop. He raised his hand on Mick’s cheek so that he would look at him, which he did, and then kissed him again.

 

“See, I knew he had no intention of just talking to him”, they heard present Mick’s voice. They stopped to see the team, along with present Mick, outside the cell.

 

Sara looked angry. “Ray, you were supposed to interrogate him, not do him”, she said.

 

Ray looked away, embarrassed, and let go of Mick long enough to gather his clothes.

 

“Oh, he was interrogating me alright”, future Mick said, sounding really satisfied. Ray couldn’t help but smile as well. Future Mick leaned in to kiss Ray on his shoulder, which sent a wave of pleasure down his spine.

 

Seeing that Ray was easily distracted, Nate decided it was time for Mick and Mick to have a heart to heart. “Ray, buddy, maybe you should come out now”, Nate called out to him, and Ray got up. Ray nodded to future Mick. “Thanks.”

 

Future Mick nodded and winked. “Any time.”

 

Sara looked at present Mick. “Can I trust you not to have sex with yourself?”

 

Future Mick gave out a nasty laugh. “Normally no, but never with this asshole.”

 

Sara nodded and motioned for the others to follow her.

 

Ray started putting his shirt back on, and he glanced at present Mick, who was looking at him sadly. All of a sudden he felt as if he had just cheated on Mick. With Mick. Ray hugged himself on instinct. “I’m sorry”, he let out.

 

Present Mick gave him a pained smile. “You did nothing wrong.”

 

Present Mick watched him leave. Nate and Zari went with him, as did Amaya, who touched present Mick’s shoulder before leaving.

 

Finally they were alone. “I guess you enjoyed that”, present Mick said to future Mick.

 

“Well, you weren’t going to, so why shouldn’t I?” Future him sounded less hostile after his tumble with Haircut.

 

“So. I guess this is about Ray?”

 

“Not just him. It’s about everything you’re doing right now”, future him said, and pointed at him. “This is day 4, right? The only reason you’re standing right now is because somebody stopped you self-destructing for a moment. Or am I wrong?”

 

He had to admit, he was right. “It was Amaya, actually.”

 

“You’re extremely predictable. Someone comes close for even a second, and you run like the chicken shit you are”, future him told him.

 

“If you hate your life so much, why didn’t you just kill yourself?” he asked himself.

 

“Because if I go back in time, I get to punch you. And to stop you from becoming me.”

 

“Okay, I’ll bite. How do I not become you?”

 

“Well, for one, you could bone Haircut.”

  
“What? That’s it?”

 

“Well, it’s a start.” The other him stepped closer to the cell door. “That boy is hot for us”, he said, pointing to the direction Ray had just disappeared to.

 

“Yeah, I saw.”

 

“No, I mean he also cares about us.”

 

“So? That’s nothing special. Haircut cares about everyone.”

 

The other him looked exasperated and leaned into the see-through material with both hands. “I really want to punch you right now.” He sighed, trying to control himself. “You care about him. And don’t lie. I’m you. I know.”

 

Mick conceded that much. “He’s never going to see us that way. He’s just horny.”

 

“You are so incredibly frustrating...That’s what I thought for a long time. Then I found out otherwise.” The other him looked like he wanted to tell him something, but decided against it.

 

“Are you still being coy? After all this?”

 

“I’ve already messed with time by coming down hear to tell you all this. I’m not sure I should reveal much more to you.” Future Mick looked at him. “Do us both a favor and bone him.”

 

Present Mick raised his eyebrows. “Whatever”, he said and walked out.

 

*************

 

Outside they all, sans future Mick, gathered to talk about what had happened.

 

“Mick, your self-destructive nature truly knows no bounds”, Nate told him after Mick explained that the other Mick was trying to kill him for ruining their lives.

 

“Thanks”, Mick nodded. “Sorry for the trouble the other me has caused.”

 

“Did you find out how we can stop you from becoming him?” Sara asked him.

 

“Yes. But you aren’t going to like it”, Mick replied.

 

“What?” Zari asked. Mick looked at Ray.

 

“Wait, really?” Nate asked. Now everybody turned to look at Ray, who in turn was confused.

 

“What? What do I need to do?” Ray asked, glancing from one Legend to the other.

 

The others looked at each other and walked way, leaving Ray and Mick alone.

 

“Mick, what…?” Ray didn’t finish his question. He was afraid to.

 

Mick said, in the most gentle tone Ray had ever heard him use: “Haircut, let’s talk in your room.”

 

In Ray’s room, Ray sat down on his bed. He motioned for Mick to join him on the bed, but Mick chose the chair instead. He needed to put some physical distance between them if he was going to be honest about his feelings with Ray.

 

“Mick?”

 

“He told me to bone you.”

 

Ray’s cheeks seemed to flush. “Are you serious?”

 

“Yes, those were his exact words. But what he really wants is for me to be honest with you.”

 

“About?”

 

Mick was wondering if Ray was being deliberately obtuse or if he really didn’t understand what he was trying to tell him. “Why I broke it off with you.”

 

Ray looked away from him, and instinctively hugged himself. “Oh?” he asked, trying to seem nonchalant but failing miserably. “So I did something wrong after all?”

 

Mick sighed and stared at the ground. “No. You treated me well. Better than anyone in a long time. And that caused me to…feel.” He picked another spot on the floor to stare at. He coughed. “You were good to me. You’ve always been good to me. And I ran.” He quickly glanced at Ray, who was looking at him, mouth wide open now. He looked away again and continued. “Since I broke it off, I’ve been doing nothing but drinking. Apparently in the future, I keep at it until I phenomenally screw up my life. That’s why future Mick wants to kill me. Or at the very least punch me.”

 

“So what do you want to do now?” Ray asked him.

 

“Well, I’ve confessed how I feel. Now we go back to how things were in the beginning, and I try to forget.”

 

“Why? Didn’t he tell you to sleep with me? So shouldn’t we do that?”

 

“Look, I know you’re horny, but I’m hurt enough already. I know it’s weird coming from me, but I don’t think I can sleep with you without getting more hurt”, Mick replied.

 

“But I like you too”, Ray pointed out.

 

“You have a boner. That’s different.”

 

“I can have a boner in my heart too.” Ray got up and stepped up to the chair Mick was sitting in, and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Seducing you, I guess”, Ray replied and kept on trailing his skin with his mouth.

 

Ray was so tired after all of this. Getting feelings for Mick, being dumped and now finding out Mick liked him back...it was all so tiring. So he figured that the best thing for both of them would be to just straight up do this. He kissed Mick’s left temple. Then the other one. When he noticed Mick’s eyes tearing up, he kissed him on his eye lids, one after the other. He pulled Mick on his feet and laid him on his bed. He laid on top of Mick and leaned over to kiss him on the mouth, but before he could do that, Mick stopped him. “Ray, I know I’m going to kick myself later...but I can’t do this right now because I feel like hurling.”

 

Ray remembered that Mick had been on a days-long bender and chuckled. “It’s okay, we have time.” He sniffed and chuckled again. “Yeah, you reek.” He laid down behind Mick and wrapped his arms around him and being the big spoon. He kissed the back of Mick’s head. “So are we officially dating now?”

 

“You just never stop talking, do you?” Mick replied, settling into a comfortable position and closed his eyes. He could feel Ray’s breath against his skin. Being held like that...he’d never felt as loved. He fell asleep like that, holding onto Ray’s arms that held him.

 

*************

 

A week passed. Future Mick had vanished by the time they had emerged from Ray’s room the next day. Mick was doing much better, resuming his more normal type of drinking instead of the suicidal one he’d been on before. Ray had insisted on setting him up with a regular eating cycle, so they were eating breakfast when Ray decided it was time to suggest his idea to Mick. They hadn’t actually gone on a date yet, and he was really hoping they would.

 

“So. I was thinking we should go and find a restaurant somewhere”, Ray uttered, as he was chucking a doughnut in his face, to cut some of the tension he was feeling from asking Mick out. Even though Mick was technically his boyfriend now, he was still...Mick.

 

“Why? We’re eating right now”, Mick replied, similarly stuffing himself.

 

“I mean later in the evening. Like a dinner”, Ray said.

 

“Today?”

 

“No, it can be another day.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Ray sighed.

 

“I’m just messing with you, Haircut. We’re going on a date this Thursday”, Mick told him and chuckled.

 

Ray smiled widely and felt truly happy. But just to tease, he had to act surprised. “You didn’t even ask me, you’re just telling me?”

 

“Yeah. What, you busy then?”

 

“I didn’t say that”, Ray said and grinned.

 

Mick reached out and laid his hand on Ray’s and squeezed it. He smiled gently, then grunted and said jokingly: “You better put out, because the restaurant is frigging expensive.”

 

Ray laughed and pointed out that the last time he had tried to seduce Mick, he’d said no.

 

“Well, we’ll see how it goes next time”, Mick replied, his eyes shining with promise.

 

Ray thought of something. “Wait a minute. Should I pay for dinner? How can you afford it?”

 

“Hey, I stole that money fair and square”, Mick replied and laid his hand affectionately on Ray’s cheek. Ray smiled in return. “Of course I’ll put out. You promised to show me the ropes. This is the next step.”

 

“Haircut, there are so many other steps to show you”, Mick told him and laid his hand on Haircut’s leg.

 

“And you’ll pull my hair?”

 

“And I’ll pull your hair.”

 

*************

 

Outside the kitchen, Zari, Sara, Amaya and Nate were looking at them from a distance. “Okay, I’m ready to call it. Who called Mick falling for Ray?” Zari asked, handing out her share of the bet. “I did, and was the only one”, Sara said and took Zari’s money and told everybody else to fork over their share. “Thank you”, she said, smiling infuriatingly at them as Amaya and Nate gave her their money as well.

 

Nate shook his head and asked her: “How did you know?”

 

“I’ve known those two fools longer than any of you. This was bound to happen sooner or later”, Sara replied and started counting her money, wondering how expensive of a restaurant she could score with them to go on a date with Ava.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing this intermittently since the end of February, so I'm happy to finally get this out of my head. I love these two disaster humans so much, but they also make me cry. Especially Mick. Please let me know what you think.


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